This invention relates to a high speed process for making thermoplastic containers or other articles wherein a measured amount of thermoplastic material, such as a thermoplastic blank, is forged under proper conditions into a preform having a defined peripheral configuration and then immediately thermoformed into a container to produce the desired container shape having advantageous properties heretofore unobtainable in rapidly thermoformed containers.
It is well known that preforms can be injection molded from a molten polymer and later thermoformed into a thermoplastic container. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,305,158 and 3,488,805. However, no quick forming process for thermoforming scrap free containers using other than an injection molding process has been known. Injection molding processes are severely limited in what can be done in forming the preform and the resultant qualities of the container. For example, the forming of oriented and/or multilayered preforms is not readily and easily accomplished in injection molding processes, and relatively expensive equipment is required.